Atlas Sound – Terrarium
It’s no secret that I have a lot of respect for Bradford Cox, the mercurial frontman of Deerhunter and his solo project Atlas Sound. Some of it I’m sure is a certain southern sensibility to his music that reminds me of home, most of it is because Cox makes music that is distinctive within a genre that more or less has been spinning its wheels in the same spot since 1994. Recently Cox shared a document that might cement his status as one of the most prolific and varied musicians around today, four volumes of music, 49 tracks spread out over 4 volumes, much of it recorded in recent months at home, titled “Bedroom Databank”.
Needless to say, it’s a lot to digest, and the music, perhaps as you’d expect from prior Atlas Sound releases, is all over the map, from quite danceable (or at least remix worthy) electro instrumentals, to a number of slow “Cortez the Killer” (or “Wild Horses” inspired as in the case of “Ex-Prodigy”) styled largely acoustic tracks with Cox’s languid and improvised vocals. “Terrarium” falls into that lot, and with such exceptional lyrics, such as the opening lines, “Oh, don’t betray us, we’ve been betrayed before. Treat us right, we just might, return the favor fourscore…fourscore,” I still find it hard to believe Cox does all his lyrics (in this project at least) stream of consciousness.
Cox released all 4 volumes on his blog, where they can all be currently found, despite some attempts to take them down by Sony. They are a fascinating look at a borderline brilliant artist deep at work on his craft.
I agree but I would leave off borderline in the concluding sentence.
I include it only because it seems premature to attach to Mr. Cox just yet, time will certainly tell.